RC Time Constant - juxtapix/IMA_E4I GitHub Wiki

Reading: 2.23.8 RC Time Constant (Capacitors)

A capacitor has the ability to fill with charge almost instantaneously when it is connected to a power source, and discharge all of it's energy almost instantaneously when the wires are shorted. There is a way to alter this rate of charge and discharge by adding a resistor to the circuit. Based on the added resistance and the size of the capacitor, the rate of charge and discharge can be accurately calculated. This ability to alter the charge and discharge rates is quite useful for applications such as timers, oscillators, and filters.

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The RC Time Constant of a circuit is often referenced in electronics. This refers to the time (in seconds) it takes for a capacitor to charge or discharge, going through a 63.3% change in its charge.


  • RC Charging
  • RC Discharging

RC Circuits

Circuits that combine a resistor (R) and a capacitor (C) are named RC circuits. These circuits can be used to reshape wave signals.

The two most common configurations of RC circuits are named Integrator and Differentiator.

  • Integrator

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  • Differentiator

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